Ecstasy

Lena wants her life back. Her wealthy, controlling, humourless husband has just died, and now she has to contend with her controlling, humourless son, Drew. She lands on the Greek island of Naxos with her best friend for the unveiling of Drew's project — the luxurious Agape Villas — where he expects her to stay inside, fall in line, and keep up appearances.

Years among the wealthy have worn Lena down to rope and sinew, smothered by tasteful cocktail dresses and small talk. On Naxos she begins to want the woman she used to be back. Below the hotel, a group of women are living in tents on the beach. She can feel their drums at night and hear their leader calling her down to dance. An ancient god is waking on that shoreline, and dark desires are waking in women across the island. What remains is whether Lena will join them, and what it will cost her.

Ecstasy is Ivy Pochoda's reworking of Euripides' The Bacchae as horror — a short, propulsive novel about desire, control, and what happens when women reject the roles set out for them. Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons in June 2025. It is a standalone.